Wilson: My tattoos have meaning

Rangers left-hander honors late grandfather with arm tattoo

My first one is on my right shoulder. It says "Poison Free" in Japanese characters. The one on my ribs says "Straight Edge," which is a pledge to never do drugs or drink in my life.

After my grandfather died, I had his name tattooed next to an anchor since he was in the Navy. I had some falling flowers put around it to symbolize life and death. That one is my only visible tattoo. I like it to be seen because people ask me about it, and it makes me remember how much I loved my grandfather Eugene.

I always wanted to get something permanent to express my views on some things, like being straight edge, so the decision to get tattooed was pretty easy. I got my first tattoo when I was 18. I think some people are worried that their parents are going to get mad when they see the tattoo, but I didn't really care.

The style of tattoo that I get is different than most of the other ballplayers up here. Some of the guys have the Japanese-influenced style of tattoos with the water and cloud motifs. I like that style a lot. I think it's all personal though -- it's whatever you like. If it means something to you, then it's good.

My tattoo artist is Luke Wessman. He travels around a lot, but he's from San Diego originally. I met him through a couple of my straight-edge friends who knew him. He's very good at doing script and Classic Americana tattoos.

I'm going to get some more, but I have to get the timing down. It's hard to do during the season. You can't really get your ribs or chest done and then have to pitch in a couple of days. I'm most likely going to have to wait until this offseason.

Rangers ace C.J. Wilson has won 31 games the last two years, including 16 in 2011. He made 34 regular-season starts for the American League West champs and posted a 2.94 ERA to go along with 206 strikeouts.

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